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KS2 English: C鶹Լ Book Club - July 2022

This month join Evie for an epic C鶹Լ Book club packed full of fun interviews with awesome authors, your book shelfies, fun games… and a trick which results in Evie having to dress as a giant chicken!

Evie’s joined in the studio by M.T. Khan, the author of ‘Nura and the Immortal Palace’, who discusses how her passion for science inspired her to write her book and why it was important for her to write a story rooted in Muslim culture.

Evie meets R.J. Palacio to talk about her classic book ‘Wonder’, a story about the importance of kindness. R.J. talks about why she thinks ‘Wonder’ is still important ten years after she wrote it.

Jenny Pearson and Sam Copeland, authors of ‘The Underpants of Chaos’, tell us what it was like to write a book together, what books they loved when they were younger and how they came up with such an unusual book title about underpants…

C鶹Լ Book Club is all about celebrating books and getting children excited about reading. These monthly programmes feature authors, illustrators and celebrities talking about their latest books, stories they loved reading when they were young, the creative ways in which they write/illustrate and most importantly, getting children involved with games, challenges and book reviews.

Teacher notes

M.T. Khan and R.J. Palacio both talk about the books they have written that promote acceptance and empathy towards others. This could be used in class as a lesson on celebrating differences and treating others with kindness.

Suggested follow-up activities

  • Ask the children to think of five adjectives that describe a book they have recently read.

  • In M.T. Khan’s book, ‘Nura and the Immortal Palace’, the lead character works in a mica mine. Explore how young children are being used to mine mica and think of what impact it has on their lives.

  • Look at ‘Oliver Twist’ by Charles Dickens and investigate how child labour existed in Britain in the past. Ask the children to find what changes were made to stop it happening. This episode from the 鶹Լ Teach series Dodger's Guide to Victorian Britain features some of the ways in which children were employed in Victorian times.

  • M.T. Khan talks about how she wanted to write a story where a Muslim child was the hero, as she felt that she often saw Muslims depicted ‘wrongly’ in the media. Ask the children to learn about a religion or culture that is different to their own and use this as an inspiration for a story.

  • Ask the children to investigate how to make gulab jamun – the ‘national dessert’ of Pakistan, or one of their favourite desserts, and to write a recipe. They could also write a poem about ‘an edible ball of joy’ – the phrase that M.T. Khan uses to describe gulab jamun.

  • Challenge the children to design and make their own unique dessert and make packaging for it.

  • Ask the children to imagine they have been stuck in a lift with their favourite book character. Who would it be, and what could happen in the lift whilst they were waiting to be rescued?

  • Challenge the children to write a story in pairs, taking turns writing a small chapter each.

  • R.J. Palacio’s book ‘Wonder’ features a character who has a craniofacial condition. Learn about craniofacial conditions and how this can lead to people looking different. Ask the children to imagine how it would feel if they looked different to their peers and how they would feel if everybody stared at them. Encourage them to think about the importance of treating everyone fairly and equally. The charity ‘Changing Faces’ offers for teaching about visible difference, including resources that focus on the novel, ‘Wonder’.

  • R.J. Palacio talks about what you should do in a situation where you do not know what to do. She says “Just be kind”. Ask the children if they have ever been in a similar situation where they didn’t know what to do. Were they kind? What could they do to be kind?

  • Both authors used a real life experience as an inspiration to write their books. Challenge the children to think of something that has happened in their lives that could encourage them to write a story that promotes kindness and empathy towards others.

  • Emoji challenge: Can you make up a story with an egg, a key and a train?

Curriculum Notes

This programme is suitable for use with pupils aged 7-12. It is designed primarily for use in English lessons with KS2 pupils in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and with 2nd Level pupils in Scotland.

Related content

We've partnered with The National Literacy Trust to help primary schools explore Marcus Rashford's book, 'The Breakfast Club Adventures', together in class.

Marcus Rashford literacy resources

In June’s Book Club, Laura meets Alex Falase-Koya & Marta Kissi who discuss what it was like to work with Marcus Rashford on their new book, “The Breakfast Club Adventures: The Beast Beyond The Fence”. They take on the emoji challenge, solve some literary mysteries, and Marta shows how to draw a cartoon version of Marcus Rashford. Also on the programme is Sam Copeland and Jenny Pearson, talking about their new book, “The Underpants of Chaos”, and Anthony Horowitz discusses his new book, “Where Seagulls Dare: The Diamond Brothers Detectives”.

June 2022

This month's C鶹Լ Book Club is presented by Alishea and she’s joined in Book Club HQ by Sharna Jackson, the author of “The Wrong Turn”, who talks about writing mysteries, how she was inspired by an American girl-scout leader called Josephine Holloway, and what it’s like to live and write on a boat! Alishea also meets comedian and horror writer Bec Hill to discuss her new book, “Now Live: Streaming”, a story all about swapping lives with a famous influencer.

May 2022